The public is invited to the next meeting of the Hope Historical Society, which will be held Tuesday, October 21, starting at 6 p.m., at the Hope Fire Station, Hope Corner. This is the Pot Luck and Annual Meeting, which includes election of officers. Please take your own place settings and favorite food items to share. Drinks will be furnished. 

This meeting will be followed by guest speaker Everett Smith, Jr., with “Historical Musings of a Budding Nurseryman - The Hobbs Farm and Beyond - Roots of a Local Fruit Legacy.” 

Everett Smith Jr. is an eighth-generation resident of Hope, where he lives with his wife and three sons on the family’s historic farm at the north end of Hobbs Pond.

The farm, in the family since the 1860s, is also home to Hobbs Horticulture, Smith’s fruit and nut tree nursery dedicated to preserving and expanding the region’s rich horticultural legacy. 

A science educator by training and a fruit explorer by passion, Smith is a backyard orchardist and hobby fruit breeder with a deep interest in the diversity and history of fruit cultivation in Maine. His upcoming presentation will explore the vibrant tradition of orchards and fruit growing in Hope, with a special focus on the Hobbs Farm during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.